One Week
by InstantDelusion
Summary: Daria along with the rest of the cast reflect on the last week before high school and college.


**Author's Note**: This is set after 'Is It College Yet?' None of these characters belong to me, nor do any songs mentioned in the writing. Daria, Jane, and the rest of the cast reflect on their last week together before high school/college. I'm considering making this a prelude to 'Is It Winter Break Yet?', another story I have in the works about Daria and college. Hope you like this.

One Week 

The scene falls in place to the tune of _For You_ by The Barenaked Ladies. The fuzzy film comes into focus on two friends, idly sitting and chewing on pieces of pizza. One is wearing glasses and her brown hair comes down passed her shoulders, while the other has short black hair and an triple ear piercing. They seem mesmerized by the pizza, as neither is speaking. There is a general hush to the place, as it appears the summer buzz is not located in this pizza place. But the two don't have their minds set on anything but eating the pizza before them. No, Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane would never be anything like their counterparts that walked the streets of Lawndale.

"Damnit," Jane Lane finally spoke, placing down the piece of pizza she held upon one of the sloppy greasy plates and stared at Daria disappointedly. Their silence had been itching at the young woman's skin like some sort of festering rash. They couldn't go on like this any longer. It had been this way ever since the beginning of August, when the weather began to get colder, and people began to move a little faster at the mention of the 's' word. No, not that one. School was approaching at lightning speed, and neither of them had shown a general appreciation for it until then, when Jane discarded of her dripping slice of pizza. Daria placed hers down and raised an eyebrow at Jane.

"Did you finally realize what they keep in their secret tomato sauce?" They both had discussed that earlier in the summer. It seemed that the place had switched their sauces, and Daria speculated that it could have something to do with the untimely disappearances of the old workers. Perhaps something to the effect of soilent green.

"No. Do you realize that we're spending one of our last days together doing what we do nearly every week?" Not that Jane had any qualms about this, but she could feel her irritability rising due to the coming departure of her best friend. Damn college.

"Funny, I never thought of you as being sentimental," Daria retorted, her eyes scanning the room to see if any of the other Lawndale-ites were out. Upon seeing none, she stared back at Jane with a sudden realization that it truly might be their last time in the little pizza place. Not that it brought tears to her eyes, for the pizza wasn't that good. But it did make her see the place in a different light.

"You know what I mean. We still have one more week until we head off to Boston, away from everything. Which means that people are going to start getting like they usually do when stuff like this happens," She knew that there were others from their school that had already left for college, as was to be expected, but none of them carried the weight that Daria did. She felt herself slowly slipping into a state of actually beginning to want to stay, a thought that scared the hell out of her. She would rather gouge the eyes out of her head than stay in Lawndale.

"Wait... you're not going til mid-term," Daria said with her unenthused monotone. Her friend had been accepted to Boston Fine Arts College, but she had sent in the application too late to be brought in at the same time. Unless of course by some magical twist of fate she had been bumped to the opening classes. Daria even felt as though she were about to smile, but paused a moment upon seeing that Jane made no movement to change the look upon her own face.

"Come on, do you think anyone would deny the great Jane her chance to escape from Lawndale, known nationally as the haven of idiots," Jane's eyebrows were raised as she picked up her piece of pizza yet again. They had indeed found a slot for her, even if it had been at the last moment. But Jane had taken the chance to get away at the drop of a hat, and had already gotten most of her supplies. That was the reason why she hadn't been able to go out with Daria the previous three days, something that led her to ponder whether or not her brother had given Daria the message as she went about searching for what she needed. But then again, this was Trent Lane they were talking about, the boy who slept an average of seventeen hours a day and was known to mysteriously not remember anything that had been told to him unless left on a sticky-note.

"You know what they say; ninety-nine point nine percent of the world is made up of stupid people. And that's not even counting the margin for error," Daria smirked then, chewing upon her own piece of pizza. They certainly were closer than they had ever been, despite the fact they would be attending separate colleges.

They had been spending the summer doing what they usually did, hanging around Lawndale. Avoiding Quinn and her friends, the now infamous ex-Fashion Club, even if it meant telling them they had contracted a disease that could cause blindness. At the aspect of losing color coordination abilities, the girls had fled the room in a mad panic. Much hilarity ensued. They tried hard not to injure Upchuck as he approached them, even if he were with Andrea. None had exactly expected Andrea, the Goth Chick, to find him attractive, but then, as Daria knew, she had her own tastes. She had heard as well that Andrea was attending college, somewhere in California, while Upchuck would be heading to Delaware. Not being one for gossip, neither Daria nor Jane had discovered the information as to whether the two were still an 'item.' Yes, it was a pretty average summer, almost as if they were simply going to be returning back to Lawndale high.

"Speaking of that majority," Jane interrupted, noting the entrance of Brittany Taylor, now dressed in a pink tee and white tennis skirt, she placed down her pizza once more. They never could quite escape the ubiquitous head of hot air that was Brittany.

"Oh Daria! Jane! How are you two doing?! Isn't it just grrr-eat that we're going off to college soon. Who would have even thought the entire cheerleading team would get into Great Prairie?!" Daria and Jane exchanged glances. Both of them were suddenly aware of a place that they would only visit under threat of death. Brittany continued, despite their lack of words. "I'm glad I found you though! I'm going to be throwing a 'going-away-to-school' party, and I just thinking to myself who I hadn't put on the guest list..."

"So we were the lucky ones..." Jane spoke quietly enough not to faze Brittany from her speech.

"And now that I see you two, I was thinking, WOW, I couldn't not invite you guys! That would be like, like..." She paused for a moment, twirling a strand of blond hair upon one of her fingers. This would be a long pause, had neither of them decided to speak up in front of Brittany. And yet it was strange that it took her that long to ruffle through her entire vocabulary.

"Forgetful? Trite? Unthinkable?" Daria especially agreed with the second one, though the smile was all the signal Jane needed to know she was enjoying this. Brittany's entirely peppy attitude could bring anyone out of the dump, even it she hadn't meant to. Or, it could quite possibly drive others insane. But Jane opted for the former.

"Um... yeah! Here are some invitations! Hope you guys can make it! Go Prairie!" Brittany bounced off to the counter, where she proceeded to make their order. Daria simply stared at the envelope placed into her hands and then at Jane. They couldn't possibly go to a party at Brittany's. They hadn't done that since... well, since they were sophomores, and now didn't seem as though it were the time to start up again. But Jane had already opened the envelope to discover that there was a gigantic happy face on the cover of the card.

"Somehow I never thought that a going away party could include quite so many happy faces," Jane stared at the inside, finding that the invitation had also been sprayed with glitter that spilled out onto her pizza. She frowned, moving on with the letter. There couldn't be anything that exciting happening in her life anyway that week, the way that things were shaping up.

"Usually you can't trust a smiley face. You know what they say. Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile..."

"So then are we going? I mean, we have an image to uphold here in Lawndale Daria," Jane smirked at the last part of her repartee, knowing just exactly how quickly the two of them would be forgotten by the town. She only hoped that there would be others like Daria, and maybe even those like herself, to continue the tradition of sticking it to Ms. Li, along with the others of Lawndale that decided to attack the downtrodden and intelligent. Not that they were downtrodden, but she figured it would be more noble a thing to think. She wondered however, who exactly would stand up to Ms. Li now that Daria was finally leaving the school.

"Image? You mean we aren't going then..." Daria knew that it would probably be the last get together of her class, along with perhaps a select few from the class below her. Somehow the image of a drunken Kevin stumbling around, trying to grope others, while the ex-fashion Club flaunted their disgust at the tastes of members of the party didn't win her out as being a good time.

"Ah, come on Daria, you know that at least we'll be able to keep it in our minds while we go off to college as a memory of what we would be returning to if we didn't," with this, Daria nodded.

"Touché," She held up her soda cup and they tapped glasses. As she downed her soda, she knew that that Sunday afternoon stood as exactly a week from when they would depart for Boston. One last week to say goodbye to Lawndale. Not that it appeared difficult then, for, as one knew about Daria, she wouldn't have many parting sorrows with Lawndale. Perhaps then the scars that the town had finally inflicted upon her would be able to heal.

"Shall we endure the people of Lawndale and walk home?" Jane spoke, rising from the both and stretching. She could find no heartfelt goodbye to the place of their youth, as one usually didn't melt and sob about the times that they chewed on gooey pizza and were goaded with the sight of their classmates daring each other to eat things off of the floor. Daria got up slowly and stood next to Jane. It certainly was different, now that they would no longer have this old hangout.

"I hate to say it... but... I think I'm going to miss this place," There was no change from her deadpan stare, and her voice remained in constant monotone. But it was a sincere statement, and she felt at least something must be said.

"Aw. Come on you big sap. We better get out of here before you get all misty-eyed," They headed to the door and exited, passing out onto the street. They walked along the avenue, not paying any attention to the shop's and their wares. Shopping was the last thing on their mind, which quite the opposite of the attitude being taken by Daria's sister and friends. Though now she had held her own job, Quinn was still up for a frenzied fit of shopping, especially to get new school clothes. But, how silly, she had reminded Daria, she had gotten school clothes weeks in advance. She was going out soon with her friends to get a little extra.

As they made their way through the streets, they couldn't help but come upon one of the friendlier faces of their Lawndale years: Jodie Landon. She was dressed modestly, with a tee shirt and a skirt, and appeared to be alone. Daria was fond of Jodie, who was one of the few high schoolers other than Jane she had been able to make any connection to. She was intelligent, but violated the boundaries by also being popular, and managed to stick up for what she believed in. Jodie found a similar admiration in Daria for her intelligence, along with the fact of telling-it-like-it-is, even if it meant alienation.

"Daria. Jane. I didn't expect to see you two out and about..." Jodie was heading away to Turner, after having successfully clinched being the valedictorian at Lawndale (which was no real shocker to anyone). The smile set upon her face had not washed away since the last day of school, and she wondered whether underneath the gaze of Daria lay a smile.

"Well you know us. Sometimes we just can't help but be seen," Daria reflected, thinking the times that they would be picked out of a crowd of people, despite their wishes.

"And just where are you going?" Jane was incredulous as to whether it could be anything that didn't promote the girl's record. But it wasn't as if she were putting her down in her mind as a show-off, for this was the thing that Jodie was least of all. She just had plans, goals, and ambitions, which meant she managed to tolerate certain people a lot more than the two of them did. That deserved praise in her book.

"I just decided to get a coffee, get a book or two, and then maybe head with Mack to a restaurant. Just a nice day off before..." But she never finished her sentence as the two heroines interjected.

"All right, what have you done with her?" Jane took a step towards Jodie.

"Who?"

"You're obviously one of the aliens sent down to take over the earth, like on yesterday's Sick Sad World..." Daria smirked.

"The real Jodie would probably be in the library reading to little kids, or documenting something for the local politician... it's too bad you blew your cover though. We might've liked to have spent some time with you, but now we'll have to turn you into the police for kidnapping..."

"You guys never do miss a beat do you?" Jodie had always loved their wit, even if at times it were a little blunt. She didn't take anything they said to seriously, for she knew that at times she was Ms. Extracurricular. But now, it didn't have to be so. She had decided she would do what she wanted, though that would still mean keeping involved. But not in things that weren't her interest. "You know it would be nice to see you guys tomorrow before I head off to Turner. I leave late in the afternoon, but if you came for lunch I'd really enjoy it. That is if the two of you didn't mind..."

Jane and Daria eyed each other. Not that they weren't friends with Jodie, but the unmistakable aforementioned feeling of 'the week' seemed to force them into situations to say goodbye. They consented however, and watched as Jodie walked away, off to her own frivolity.

They didn't speak until they were nearly home, and merely watched the surroundings in silence. It was Daria who spoke first, spotting from a distance that her parent's were home.

"Why does it seem that now that we're finally leaving, people are actually engaging us in activities?" Daria speculated herself that they simply happened to be in the right place at the right time in both situations, but left it to Jane to answer.

"Because we're a novelty. We frighten them, like those tigers at the zoo that broke out and mauled that woman," Jane retorted, remembering the news broadcast.

"I don't think I appreciate being thought of as a knick-knack," Daria could only picture then the two of them as bobble-head dolls.

"Well I don't think we would ever get popular enough to be like that. The very fabric of space and time may rip if that ever were to happen," With that, they had reached Jane's house, and she gave a wave to Daria. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I've got to get my stuff together and see if Trent is awake yet. You really should come and see him before you go Daria... I think Mystik Spiral is playing Thursday or Friday..."

"I'll think about it..." Daria replied, heading off to her own house. Sunday was nearly over, it would only be six more days until she headed off to Raft...

The scene fades, and _For You_ begins to play again.


End file.
